MANILA - As Filipino rice farmers suffer from plummeting selling prices of palay (unhusked rice), Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Tuesday called on government to act as equalizer and implement the Sagip Saka Law immediately.

Panglinan said the law exempts local governments and national agencies from the Procurement Law and can now directly buy from farmers' and fishers' organizations for their feeding program, their employees' rice allowance, their food-for-work programs, among others.

At the Senate hearing on how to help farmers absorb the impact of the Rice Tariffication Law, Pangilinan said government can now negotiate the prices directly with food producers, who in the process will be assured of buyers of their produce at fair prices.

Across the board, farmers and farmer-rights advocates told the hearing that buying prices for palay have dropped to as low as P7 to P8 per kilo, much lower than the production cost of palay at P12 per kilo.

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Assistant Secretary Mercedita Sombilla insisted that the national average is P16-P18.

Arze Glipo, of the National Movement for Food Security, told the Senate hearing that before the Rice Tariffication Law, rice farmers were already not earning enough for their daily needs, getting only P27,000 per cropping or P54,000 every year. This, she pointed out, puts most farmers among the poorest 10 percent in the country.

Senator Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, asked the farmers to list the places where the low palay prices are so that the NFA can buy them at P17 per kilo.

Higher farmers' income as peg of govt success

Pangilinan said he shares Agriculture Secretary William Dar's vision on doubling farmers' income, noting that farmers still earn very little despite the billions of pesos poured by government in agricultural programs.

Sagip Saka of 2019 or Republic Act 11321 aims to increase farmers' and fisher folk's incomes by requiring government agencies to purchase produce and harvest directly from farm enterprises. By doing this without the middlemen, food prices go down and food producers earn more.

The law is part of the Pangilinan's campaign promises in the 2016 national elections. It was signed into law April 17, 2019, and was made publicly available May 27.

Agriculture officials vowed to implement the law immediately, after lawmakers pointed out that they have had a 90-day allowance for rollout. Sagip Saka should have been implemented by August.

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